Today was Tomato Day

Ysarex · 2025-07-28T14:04:51-0500

I've got to have my tomatoes! This year I have 33 tomato vines planted and right now they're producing well so I have lots of work to do. (Of course I had fresh tomatoes for lunch.) The excess we can't eat I preserve to use through the year by fermenting them and I give away a lot to the neighbors. Today I started up a new ferment (3 liter jar) and bottled 2 liters of the ferment that just finished. I need approx. 30 liters put up to last the year -- these two are bottles 10 and 11.

smoke665 · 2025-07-28T14:34:22-0500

Ysarex said:
The excess we can't eat I preserve to use through the year by fermenting them

You know I'm today's year old, and I have never heard of fermenting Tomatoes. I can remember my grandmother fermenting cabbage and pickling cucumbers in a salt water brine....stunk up the whole house for datys.

Every summer there seemed to be an endless chore of canning vegetables of one sort or another. We used to raise a large garden, the last year I put one out, I put out almost 2 acres of sweet corn, hoping to get to keep enough from the deer for the freezer. Unfortunately, they were better judges of harvest time, and they stripped the field, the night before we were ready to pick. With just the two of us, it became more work than it was worth, now we go to the farmers market or store.

Ysarex · 2025-07-28T15:35:28-0500

smoke665 said:
You know I'm today's year old, and I have never heard of fermenting Tomatoes.

I love it -- makes the best Bloody Mary ever.

smoke665 said:
I can remember my grandmother fermenting cabbage and pickling cucumbers in a salt water brine....stunk up the whole house for datys. Every summer there seemed to be an endless chore of canning vegetables of one sort or another. We used to raise a large garden, the last year I put one out, I put out almost 2 acres of sweet corn, hoping to get to keep enough from the deer for the freezer. Unfortunately, they were better judges of harvest time, and they stripped the field, the night before we were ready to pick. With just the two of us, it became more work than it was worth, now we go to the farmers market or store.

smoke665 · 2025-07-28T16:27:28-0500

Ysarex said:
I love it -- makes the best Bloody Mary ever.

Does it make it's own alcohol? LOL

In the process of rapid aging a new batch of Fig Wine with toasted oak. This was the last of last years crop. Fig tree is loaded so I'll be making wine all year

Ysarex · 2025-07-28T16:50:30-0500

smoke665 said:
Does it make it's own alcohol? LOL

Not enough sugar. The big advantage is it keeps more than a year without refrigeration and requires no energy intensive process to make and tastes great.

smoke665 said:
In the process of rapid aging a new batch of Fig Wine with toasted oak. This was the last of last years crop. Fig tree is loaded so I'll be making wine all year

webestang64 · 2025-07-28T17:46:07-0500

YUM...!!!!! For sure next year I'm gonna grow me some of those there maters!

smoke665 · 2025-07-28T19:55:34-0500

@Ysarex You've pricked my curiosity. Downloaded a recipe to try!

Ysarex · 2025-07-28T21:42:13-0500

smoke665 said:
@Ysarex You've pricked my curiosity. Downloaded a recipe to try!

Well I posted the same photo on another site and was asked there for my process so I wrote it up:

Fermenting is a great preservation method as it requires no energy (like canning) or energy dependent storage (like freezing). I also can: Harvest Season but this uses a lot of energy (those beans had to be kept at pressure for 25 minutes). Really heats up the house.

I like the three liter bale jars but you can scale to any size to ferment. In the jar I start with two cloves of garlic, three or four fresh basil leaves and a generous 1/2 teaspoon of canning or kosher salt. Wash and chop the tomatoes making sure to remove the pithy white center where the stem attaches. Fill the jar and then crush the tomatoes. I use a wooden spoon. Add more tomatoes and crush again until you get a level in the jar like you see in the photo.

Here comes the hard part. You need a jar that seals well but will also ultimately release if too much pressure builds up. You've got to watch them because if you get a real active ferment going it can start leaking. Put the jar in the coolest part of the house and you may have to stir it multiple times a day to release gas but otherwise stir at least twice a day. Ferment should take in the 5 to 7 day range somewhat temperature dependent. When the ferment slows down watch for a film of white mold starting to form -- not bad for you, think moldy cheese, but that's your sign that the ferment is finished and it's time to bottle.

You'll want one of these:Choice Food Prep Stainless Steel Rotary Food Mill with 3 Sieves - 3.5 Qt. Capacity and make sure it comes with a tomato sieve. You need to separate the skins and seeds from the juice. Add between 4 and 5 grams of pickling or kosher salt to a liter bottle and fill with juice to within 1/2 inch of the bottle top (see photo). Cap with extra virgin olive oil and seal -- goal is no air in the bottle. Store in the basement it'll last more than a year. Makes the world's absolute best Bloody Mary.

One more thing: SALT. The key to preserving fermented foods is salt, Pickles are salty, sauerkraut is salty, etc.. But too much salt isn't good for you. I originally started with a recipe I found on the internet and they specified a massive amount of salt in each liter bottle -- more than a tablespoon. I reduce it and have continued to reduce it. I started with 7.5 grams per liter -- very salty but started each year to put up a test bottle with less salt. I'm down to 4 grams per liter this year and will put up a 3 gram test bottle hoping that next year I'll be using 3 grams per liter.

Ysarex · 2025-07-28T21:53:37-0500

webestang64 said:
YUM...!!!!! For sure next year I'm gonna grow me some of those there maters!

You and I live in the same city and I know where you work. I'd be happy to bring you a 1/2 liter bottle from last years stock if you want to try it. Let me know.

Jeff15 · 2025-07-29T02:11:07-0500

I bet this is very tasty ... :onthego:

smoke665 · 2025-07-29T06:51:14-0500

@Ysarex your method/recipe is similar to the one I downloaded. As you mentioned it does call for more salt. Knowing I could reduce that without affecting the preservation is good, as to much salt creates problems for me. One thing different also is they're using whole tomatoes (cherry and other small), or slices, no crushing.

webestang64 · 2025-07-29T09:57:07-0500

Ysarex said:
You and I live in the same city and I know where you work. I'd be happy to bring you a 1/2 liter bottle from last years stock if you want to try it. Let me know.

That would be wonderful, yes please! Thanks so much!!